Before: white picket fence, mid-forties mother and father with upper-middle class jobs. Dad drove a Sportage to work, Mom a new Chrysler 300C. Two boys, thirteen and fifteen, one dog named Oreo. Manicured lawn, DTV with four hundred stations; broadband.

After the Cataclysm: fence in ashes, mid-forties mother and father, jobless (workplaces nonexistent). Sportage three feet underground, Chrysler in garage, side door taken off. Dirt lawn, TV stations failing except for three local; internet lifeless. Dog named Oreo. One boy, thirteen.